The 2015 International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards

The 2015 International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards: International and more consistent support for women playwrights swells in theaters!

(The World) – The International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP) is delighted to report the increasingly consistent and diverse recipients for this year’s 50/50 Applause Awards, which sets out to recognize theatres that produced 50% or more women playwrights in their season of shows. ICWP defines 50/50 by the number of qualifying performances in a theater’s season. This allows us to measure what percentage of resources is being devoted to women playwrights.

This year, we are pleased to be honoring 60 recipients, representing nine countries. The list includes theatres in Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Scotland, Sweden and the United States. Our recipients range from small or new theaters to well-established larger theaters. We are thrilled that one third of the list are repeat recipients who have demonstrated gender parity in two or more seasons, indicating an increased awareness and commitment to women playwrights from the larger theater community. Meet some of the theaters in our multi-lingual video.

2015 ICWP 50/50 Applause Awards Celebration Video

While these theaters are serving as role models, ICWP recognizes that the average of productions of women playwrights internationally continues to remain under 25%. The United States’ 2015 The Count, measuring productions nationwide 2011-2014, found that women playwrights were being produced 22% (up from the 2009 Sands report at 18%). In Canada, The Equity in Theatre (EIT) report (2015), however, showed a decrease in productions by women playwrights from 29% for the season of 2010/11 (PACT report) to 22% for the season of 2013/14.

There is also a disparity in the size of theaters and stages that women playwrights are given in comparison to their male counterparts. This directly affects the ticket price and, therefore, the potential income for the playwright. According to the EIT, the largest theaters in Canada produce men 70% while women’s work is produced 19.5%. The UK’s report “Still Looking Through A Glass Ceiling?” found that “…on average, new plays by women are performed in theatres that are 24% smaller than those which present new work by men, while the ticket price is 23% lower.” (British Theatre Consortium in collaboration with the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, 2015)

Theaters that are looking for plays by women can find the seasons of our recipients listed on our website. Other resources are The Kilroys List, The New Play Exchange and Treepress.

ICWP started in 1988 with a mission to support women playwrights worldwide and bring attention to their work. The ICWP 50/50 Applause Awards were founded in 2012 to increase awareness and applaud theatres that produced a season with an equal or greater number of plays written by female playwrights. More information about the awards can be found at: http://www.womenplaywrights.org/award